When morning came, Aslan was not next to me. But honestly, which morning had he ever been next to me? After all, we were playing this +18 kind of house game. Of course, I was aware that this game would not continue until death. I wasn't stupid, after all, but to be honest, I didn't expect it to reach this point so quickly. I was thinking that at least I would enjoy a few years, and even if we divorced later, I wouldn't go back to my old life—but as usual, Aslan managed to strike me at the moment I least expected it. It happened every time. Actually, after the first time, I had promised myself I would never fall for him again, but unfortunately, it didn't happen that way. Because Aslan was the kind of man you wanted to believe in. He was rich, handsome, and, most importantly, strong. Not just physically, he was the kind of man you could easily believe could solve every problem in the world. Leaning on those unshakable shoulders and falling under his wings was very easy to get used to. That's why, for me, who always lived with constant plans and struggles, giving in to this idea every time wasn't hard at all.
In the first month of our marriage, Aslan was grumpy, this cursed, foul-tempered thing compared to now. He would unleash fire on everyone. One day he wanted to introduce me to his friends. That evening, just as I was about to leave the room fully ready, Aslan came in holding a very beautiful necklace. The necklace wasn't very expensive. It was a delicate piece with a small snowflake at the end of a thin chain. While giving me the necklace, he said, "When I first saw you, the only thing that came to my mind was snowflakes. I couldn't compare such a unique beauty to anything else. Beautiful, but also something that would melt if touched. There's no way to touch snowflakes without harming them, but I will find a way. I will keep my snowflake with me without harming it." Of course, I was in shock—why did my grumpy husband, who would unleash fire on everyone, suddenly turn into a Romeo? I was genuinely in shock. But just look at how romantic he was. No one had ever cared what I felt or even that I existed in their lives, but here was a man like Aslan telling me he would find a way to keep me by his side without hurting or breaking me. It was impossible not to be affected by this, and I wasn't stupid for being affected. I was stupid for believing it. Anyway, after minutes of plenty of kisses in the bedroom, we finally, and of course very late, arrived at the restaurant. There were six of us, three girls, three boys. From the first day, I had gotten along very well with the girls, fulfilling my role as a proper wife with my usual smile, but I couldn't say the same for the boys. One of them—was his name Zafer?—that bastard hadn't liked me from the first moment he saw me. He saw me as a complete gold digger and thought that sitting at the same table with them was an insult. He couldn't say anything because he was scared of Aslan, but I knew that look very well. I had served that look for years. I could recognize the filth from his eyes. After a while, he probably couldn't bear it anymore and said to me,
"So, Selin, have you gotten used to your new life?" I was definitely expecting this stone, but I thought he wouldn't dare in front of Aslan. So first, I glanced at Aslan, but he had no intention of intervening.
"I mean, marriage is nice, of course. I think I've gotten used to it," I said with all my cuteness. He smirked. Then he said,
"I wasn't talking about marriage. I was talking about your new class. After all, this is a big change for you." At that moment, I thought to myself, now Aslan will make his friend deliver these insinuations to him, and I will watch with delight.
Of course, that didn't happen. Aslan just stood beside me. Everyone at the table had understood the insinuation the bastard made to me. The atmosphere instantly became tense. At first, I didn't know what to do or say.
"My new class?" I asked as if I didn't understand. He nodded up and down and took a sip of his drink.
"Yes, your new class. Come on, we're not strangers; we all know you don't belong here. Don't get me wrong, you handle it very well, as if you've been ready for this your whole life."
His words couldn't hurt me, actually. Of course, Aslan, in front of all his friends, said,
"Getting a little class upgrade is everyone's common goal anyway, right, Zafer?" At that moment, I realized there would be no trust in the compassion or love Aslan showed. The man I had believed could love me without hurting me a few hours ago was the same man who didn't respond to the friend humiliating me at the table. I could trust the man I kissed in that room. I could trust the man who, just because I hugged him one morning, would install air conditioning in the whole house at my word and drop everything to come to me. But I couldn't trust the man who didn't defend me that night and behind my back schemed endlessly to save himself. Luckily, before this happened, my dearest mother-in-law had unknowingly done me a favor. Now what I had to do was get myself out of this situation with minimal damage. I couldn't prevent him from divorcing me. I didn't want to anyway. Because if he wanted to leave, he could. Of course, after paying the price. I wouldn't stay in anyone's life by force. Of course, we could divorce, but I could never give up my Hermes bags or my jewelry.
Never. Ever.
So, as soon as I got up in the morning, I took photos of all my jewelry and bags and rushed to this counterfeit shop in the Grand Bazaar. I knew the shop boy, Ali, from the dorm. Of course, we weren't in the same dorm, but at one point, the boys' dorm was two streets down from ours. Naturally, the girls and boys in our dorm had immediately started trying to date each other. It was in that environment that I had met Ali. Ali had worked for years in shops in the Grand Bazaar that made high-quality knockoffs of branded items. He even had some shady jobs, but when you paid, he could replicate even a spoon diamond perfectly. That's why I came to him, and he agreed to make replicas of all my bags and jewelry. Of course, for a pretty high price. Luckily, what I would gain was worth much more than what I would pay, so there was no problem. According to the plan, Ali would make it look like he purchased from one of the stores here, and when Aslan asked, I would say I bought gifts for the dorm kids and pay without issues. But since the amount was a bit high, I also had a few bags and shoes placed in their original packaging to take with me. At least I could trick Aslan into thinking it was shopping and gifts. With a bunch of packages in my hands, I secretly entered the shop and left just as secretly, heading to Aslan's company. I came here often because I didn't trust any of the women here. After all, if there's anything more dangerous than a woman chasing a rich husband, it's a woman chasing rich, married men. Of course, Aslan wouldn't have let me do this without kicking me out, but I didn't want to take chances. I also couldn't be the cheated woman. As soon as I entered the company, the reception girls tried to take the packages from me, but I stopped them, saying it wasn't necessary. Aslan had to see these packages. Otherwise, I usually wouldn't carry them around. We were poor but not uncultured, thankfully. When I took the elevator to Aslan's floor, his secretary saw me and stood up.
"Ms. Selin, welcome. Can I help you, ma'am?" she said, reaching for the packages. My arms were about to break.
"Thanks, dear. Is Aslan inside?" I asked.
"No, ma'am. He had a meeting with accounting. Please sit, I'll let him know immediately," she said. Such a sweet girl. We were close in age, but she always treated me like her older sister, respectful and affectionate. That's why she was one of the rare women I couldn't boss around here. When we went into the office, she put the bags in the corner. As I watched Aslan walk to his chair, I said,
"Okay, I'll wait, just take me a cold water, Ece."
"Of course, ma'am. By the way, thank you again for my engagement dress. Thanks to you, I wore a beautiful dress," she said. I sat down and smiled at her. She had gotten engaged a week ago, and I had arranged the dress for her as a small gesture. Of course, seeing the dress, she had been overjoyed and thanked me wherever she saw me. Expensive dresses were insignificant to me now, but once they had been like a dream. That's why I unconsciously wanted to make these things accessible for everyone I cared about.
"No one else could shine in that dress like you, my dear. I just delivered it to the owner, that's all," I said. She smiled, thanked me again, and left. After Ece left the room, she brought my water and said Aslan's meeting would be over soon. I watched outside the window for a while, but I was getting bored. Then my eyes fell on our wedding photo on the desk. We had had such a grand wedding that everyone had talked about it for weeks. In the photo, both of us were smiling at the camera. It was simple yet very stylish. I had given him that photo to put on his desk. After a long "why bother" fight, I had won. Someone looking at the photo could see a happy couple, but that day I had dealt separately with both Aslan and his mother. I had understood what kind of person his mother was when we first met, but I still hoped our relationship might improve as she got to know me. Of course, until I saw that Işıl fairy had put the family heirloom earrings on our wedding day. I felt great disappointment toward her for the first time, but what really broke me was Aslan's reaction when I told him what his mother had done:
"Selin, sometimes you forget, but this marriage isn't something meaningful. So don't worry so much about who put on the earrings."
That's exactly what he said. I remembered it word for word. I hadn't lowered my nose toward him at that moment, but as soon as I left the room, I was devastated. I couldn't cry, afraid my makeup would smudge, so I fought to remain a sad and hurt bride alone in the bridal room, unnoticed. Before this photo, I had been very upset, but then, as always, Aslan managed to do something that confused me. As I was going down for the photo shoot, I heard Aslan's voice from the corridor, got curious, and went toward the sound. I saw Aslan talking with his mother in one of the rooms.
"Whether you accept it or not, Selin is my wife. Every disrespect you show her, you show me. Işıl, when you made her wear those earrings, what were you thinking? That she would be humiliated? The one humiliated was you. People who see us putting the earrings, a family heirloom from my grandmother, on a stranger instead of my wife—who do you think they'll talk about? Selin or you? You take the earrings from that girl and bring them to me, mother," he said. My future mother-in-law tried to shout back, "I would never take them, my daughter-in-law, Işıl is such a gold digger, a simple girl…" but Aslan said "Mother" in such a tone that I literally froze with fear,
"Simple? Let me tell you; that Işıl, who tried to show she hadn't given up by putting family heirloom earrings on a married man's bride, can't even be a fingernail of my wife," he said, giving his mother a lesson.
Do you understand? He was such a bizarre man. The man who told me a minute ago that he didn't care about this marriage now stood in front of his mother defending me. Of course, I pretended I didn't hear them and walked away. And when I didn't see the earrings on Işıl's ears anymore, I laughed joyfully all over the wedding. I was foolish—I had immediately fallen for Aslan. I couldn't have known that these instabilities would become a part of our lives. After waiting a bit longer, I was about to explode. The evening sun had started hitting this room, and soon I would doze off lazily. Seeing that Aslan had no intention of coming, I decided to take a nap on the double sofa across from the desk. I let myself drift into the arms of a pleasant sleep in the warmth of the sun lightly falling on me.
I woke up from the sweet sleep to feather-light touches on my face. Of course, it could only be Aslan. I didn't want to open my eyes immediately. He rarely touched me with affection, so I wanted to savor it. Yes, I was expecting some tenderness from my husband who wanted to get rid of me, but after all, he had used me and tried to push me aside, so I could use him too. I didn't see a problem with that.
When I realized he was about to continue playing with me even though he was trying to get rid of me, I couldn't help it and slowly opened my eyes. Aslan was crouched at the edge of the chair, running the back of his finger across my face, a look almost like genuine tenderness on his face.
"Aslan?" I said, pretending I had just woken up. Instinctively, I rubbed my eyes with one hand. Aslan pulled his hand away and said,
"Did I keep you waiting too long?" He had taken off his jacket and was standing in just his shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He never walked around the office like this, so apparently, he had waited for me to wake up for a while.
"No, I was just lying down for a bit, but I fainted," I said, straightening up. Aslan also straightened up, first glancing at the packages in the corner, then as he got up, he said,
"I see you went through my card again, did you go shopping for the dorm?"
I put on my cute smile and stood, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"For some for the kids, and a bit for me too. I thought you wouldn't mind, my husband Aslan," I said. Aslan did not look pleased with this. When he lowered my arms from around his neck, I was surprised. Normally, his hands would immediately find my waist and kiss me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, a bit upset. Had he realized what I did? No, how could he know?
"Sometimes I wonder which is the real you. The woman who shops for the dorm kids every month without complaint, never taking her hands off them, or the woman who only cares about money?" he said calmly. It was impossible to understand what he wanted from me. I couldn't guess how to act anymore. This man needed a lesson. Since we were about to separate soon, I no longer had to be reasonable. I could indulge myself a bit.
"So, you don't want me to see you only as money?" I said, circling around the desk. He lifted his head and looked at me from his seat. I had married this man for his money, but I had to admit, my husband was incredibly handsome. There are people who seem to tower over everyone when they enter a room—you notice them instantly because everyone else looks tiny. That was exactly my husband. And didn't I marry him partly for that? So I could hide under his wings.
But still…
Every time I looked down at him like this, I felt incredibly powerful, as if I had made a lion kneel before me. The confidence in his gaze made me want to challenge him.
"So, my dear husband wants more now?" I said, continuing to approach. I stood in front of him, held onto his shoulders, made him lean back in the chair, and sat on his lap. I was so slow that my husband, recognizing it as a challenge, didn't ruin my game. Because I knew that was his favorite side of me. A woman half his size constantly resisting a man who scares everyone else—even from talking to him—is bound to amuse him. I thought it was hilarious, but I was sure my husband found it incredibly hot.
Once I settled on his lap, I wrapped my arms around his neck and said,
"Then you give me more too." He furrowed his brow at what I said. I knew he wouldn't like it because he was used to everyone giving him whatever they wanted, unconditionally. Now I was asking for something to get what I wanted, and I was used to getting everything I desired. A mocking smile appeared on his face.
"More bags, dresses, or cars, will that work, my wife?" he said, already wrapping his hands around my hips. Now he was challenging me. I shouldn't fall for it because this was his weapon. He was clouding my mind with trickery. Well, I was on his lap, but mine didn't count. I had the right to cheat a little to win.
Because, as I said, everyone felt tiny around my husband, and for a bit of confidence, I needed to see in his eyes that he desired me. So I rubbed a little against him and moved one of my hands to his chest. His gaze darkened instantly, and I continued my game.
"See? How can I expect anything more from a man who tries to give me more bags or money every time?" I said. I wasn't sure he was listening because with his darkened gaze, he was staring directly at my lips, and his hands on my hips made him look ready to attack at any moment—but I knew he wouldn't interrupt my show, and I was going to enjoy every second.
Would it be strange if I compared my husband to a wild animal lying in wait?
As his hands caressed my hips, it was already hard to concentrate, and if he kept looking at me like that, I would definitely attack him. So I moved my hand from his chest back to his neck and leaned close to his ear. As I approached, his hands gripped my hips tighter. Maybe I rubbed against him a little, but as I said, I had the right to cheat a bit.
I wondered if he compared me to a wild animal lying in wait.
"If you want me to see you as more, my husband, then stop buying expensive bags or cars every chance you get. I'm right here, and if you really want it, you'll man up and come get it," I said, placing a kiss between his neck and ear. I was extremely sexy at that moment, and judging by the hands going under my skirt, I was on the right track—but I needed one final strike. A few days ago, he had said something to me, and now I was going to get my revenge, finishing the day's play. Then I could indulge myself a bit. Because with his hands roaming over my bare butt and thighs, my mind was flying too. And it wasn't only this giant man affected by these little tricks. After the kiss, I pulled back, stared into his dark eyes, and delivered the final move, finishing my show.
"Of course, if your ass likes it!"
Then?
Then I indulged myself a bit!
Meanwhile, office sex was absolutely incredible.